Vatican: Receiving Eucharist kneeling may not be permanent change

CNS ^ | May 23, 2008 | Cindy Wooden

[NYer]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The four dozen people who received Communion from Pope Benedict XVI on the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ received the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling.

Vatican officials said the gesture at the May 22 Mass outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran does not mark a permanent change in papal liturgies, but highlighted the solemnity of the feast and a connection to Mass practices in the past.

As the pope prepared to distribute Communion, two ushers placed a kneeler in front of the altar on the basilica steps. The chosen communicants -- laypeople, nuns, seminarians, priests and boys and girls who had received their first Communion in their parishes in May -- all knelt and received on the tongue.

Generally at papal Masses, those receiving Communion from the pope stand. The majority choose to receive on the tongue, but some reverently extend cradled hands to receive the Eucharist.

In a brief e-mail to Catholic News Service May 23, Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, said the decision "was a solution adopted for (the feast of) Corpus Domini," but as for the future, "we'll see."

Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, told CNS "there is no discussion" in the Vatican about insisting that those who receive Communion from the pope do so kneeling or that they receive it on the tongue rather than in their hands.

In addition, he said, "there are no new norms coming" that would change the Vatican's 1969 decision that local bishops could allow their faithful to receive the Eucharist in their hands while standing.

"But the gesture of the Holy Father" at the May 22 Mass "is to be appreciated. It brings out in a better way the fact that we adore the Lord whom we receive" in the Eucharist, Archbishop Ranjith said.

"It was a special occasion" because the feast focuses on Jesus truly present in the Eucharist, he said. "I hope this practice spreads."

In a preface to a January book about the beauty of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling, Archbishop Ranjith had said he thought it was time for the Catholic Church to reconsider its decision to allow the faithful to receive Communion in the hand.

Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, assistant director of the Vatican press office, said he did not think the May 22 Mass marked a permanent change; "according to current norms the faithful may receive in the hand while standing," he said.

However, he said, the practice chosen for the special feast day was another example of what Msgr. Marini has said would be the practice at papal Masses, "alternating the old and new to indicate continuity with the past."

In his homily at the Mass, Pope Benedict spoke about the importance of "kneeling before the Lord, adoration that begins at the Mass itself and accompanies the entire (Corpus Christi) procession" through the streets of Rome.

"To adore the body of Christ means to believe that there, in that piece of bread, there really is Christ who gives meaning to our lives," the pope said in his homily.

[NYer]

They must have received a LOT of feedback ;-) Think of it as the Vatican sending up a trial balloon.

[pgkdan]

I wish it were a permanent change for all Masses!

[NYer]

RECALLING PAST PRACTICE
A girl kneels as she receives Communion from Pope Benedict XVI during Mass celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome May 22. (CNS/Giancarlo Giuliani, CPP)

I wish it were a permanent change for all Masses!

Last night my pastor hosted the last Bible Study class for this year. During the discussion, he brought up the subject of the Eucharist. Now, in the Maronite Church, communion is only on the tongue. Our priest is bi-ritual and often assists the local RC diocese by saying the NO Mass at the hospital or at senior residences. He has witnessed so much abuse that now he makes an announcement at the beginning of Mass telling all in attendance that he will only distribute communion on the tongue. He talked about the slippery slope effect that has led to so much abuse. It sickens him. He said that as a priest, he KNOWS he is holding the Body and Blood of Christ. "When I ponder this", he said "it's enough to send shivers down the spine and make the hands tremble with awe."

[B Knotts]

I think the Holy Father is doing what he always is doing: teaching.

[pgkdan]

You are vey lucky...it sounds like you have a wonderful priest!

[LZ_Bayonet]

"I wish it were a permanent change for all Masses!"

Not me, put it ONLY in the hands. I don't appreciate spit getting all over the distributor's finger tips, and then he/she dips the fingers back in the chalice and infects your's and some of the remaining hosts. Same with having people drink wine out of the same cup [yep, I know; they wipe it :-) ] - I haven't touched that wine since they started the practice. It's ridiculous, go back to the old way of adding some wine to the hosts, then have the distributor put it in the recipent's hand.

[Frank Sheed]

A practice of kneeling before My Lord and My God and receiving Him without touching His Sacred Body and Blood is clearly passe as the practice only lasted about...oh....1500 years. After all, it IS only about ME, isn’t it?

Frank

[Frank Sheed]

Brick by brick...

;-o)

[redhead]

In the Byzantine Rite, Communion is received standing, on the tongue, from a spoon. (Incidentally, the watter added to the wine before Consecration is heated, so the recipient receives the Sacred Host and Precious Blood at roughly body temperature.)

[redhead]

Erk... “Watter” is NOT a part of the Sacred Species. “Water” IS. We open our mouths wide, and Father tips the spoon and deftly drops the Precious Body and Blood into our mouths. At no time does he touch us with the spoon.

[AnAmericanMother]

As one of Kipling’s characters said, “Link by link is chain mail made.”

[LZ_Bayonet]

"A practice of kneeling before My Lord and My God and receiving Him without touching His Sacred Body and Blood is clearly passe as the practice only lasted about...oh....1500 years. After all, it IS only about ME, isn’t it?"

Oh, so instead of it being about ME, it should be about YOU and your need for 1500 years of history for psychological reassurance.

Or, is there a 12th Commandment that says, "Thou shalt not touch the Consecrated Host?

I'm afraid I'm a little to old and have too much of a history as a Catholic and an altar server to succumb to your psychobabble. Take for instance:
- This is 2008 A.D., so if this were 508 A.D., and I suggested placing it on the tongue, you'd be giving me grief over 508 years of tradition.
- When the practice of putting on the tongue started, they didn't know about germs and infection. They should have changed the practice as soon as they knew it. And the practice of drinking from the common cup should never have been started; it is unsanitary. And, invoking your logic, the old way of mixing the wine with the bread in the Chalice had probably been around for 1500 years. [BTW-I recall, when it became possible to take Communion in the hand, an older Priest defended the new method, saying "Anyone who claims the hand is less sanitary has never spent years placing the Host on the tongue."]

Sorry Frank, I've been punished by too many nuns and priests for violating "SACRED, SACRED, SACRED" and OLD rules of the Church that we're tossed away in the 1960's without any apology or acknowledgement to those who had previously been castigated by the Church as "unholy" and "sinners". Think of all the sinners who went to Hell for eating less than 24 hours before Communion, unless of course they went to Confession first.

BTW - Kneeling is fine, even though I've seen a Biblical reference, or a painting of the Last Supper with the Apostles kneeling.

[GCC Catholic]

I don't appreciate spit getting all over the distributor's finger tips, and then he/she dips the fingers back in the chalice and infects your's and some of the remaining hosts.

Doesn't happen if those receiving on the tongue have been taught to do it CORRECTLY. Mouth wide open, tongue noticeably out (yes, sticking your tongue out at the priest). Kneeling makes the angle better for the priest to distribute. An altar boy holding the paten under the recipient makes it so that the priest need not fear dropping the host (thus he can hold the host in such a way that he need not near the recipient's tongue).

Point being: teach the people to do it right, and give them opportunity to do it right consistently.

It's ridiculous, go back to the old way of adding some wine to the hosts, then have the distributor put it in the recipent's hand.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it was never done that way. Communion by intinction (host dipped into the Precious Blood) is received on the tongue only (and by way of a spoon in many Eastern Rite Churches). To plaIt's ridiculous, go back to the old way of adding some wine to the hosts, then have the distributor put it in the recipent's hand.ce the Precious Blood directly into the communicant's hands is to inevitably lose some of it.

The "old way" of receiving Communion in the hand is per St. Cyril's explanation of "make your hands into a throne," and was followed up by some very strict points about being certain that not even the smallest fragment of the host is lost (a point very often neglected by those who use his quote to justify Communion in the hand). This in addition to the fact that it had been so long gone as a practice in the Latin Rite that to revive it smacks of antiquarianism (condemned by Pius XII) and/or novelty.

[Frank Sheed]

I am not trying to pick an argument with anyone. I too served the “Tridentine Mass” and saw the disaster which happened when the priest inadvertently dropped the Body of Christ. He put down a corporal, and then, after Mass, retrieved the Host, consumed it, and SCRUBBED the spot for minutes with water. All of that was collected and went down the Sacrarium. I also watched “up close” as priests assiduously cleaned the sacred vessels and all the patens that were used to get every tiny speck into the Chalice so that they could be consumed by the priest after Communion.

Gandhi is quoted as saying that IF Catholics believed that Christ was in the Eucharist, they’d crawl to Communion on their hands and knees. He has a point. He is pointing to the gravity of the event—that God is literally present as Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and not just “with the community of believers.”

Even Fr. Trigilio commented on this on his blog today. Many bloggers have—priest bloggers.

http://blackbiretta.blogspot.com/2008/05/non-sum-dignus-domine.html

I think the point is that the Holy Father by his actions (ad orientem; kneeling; the Papal arrangement of altars with 6 candles and a central crucifix) is asking subliminal questions that are not easy to answer: e.g., Is everyone present in the state of grace (enormous numbers at Communion but small lines at Confession); Must everyone who attends a Mass receive? (we get countless graces for simply attending a Mass; if all receive, we get the Massive outdoor Masses we have come to expect and Consecrated Hosts offered for sale on EBay); Do we understand the gravity and fullness of grace that is taking place?

I am on the side of Fr. Trigilio. If intinction could be done, it would mean that only “consecrated clergy” could give Communion and many lay EMOHCs will balk. I, for one, wonder why both species must be given when the GIRMs clearly state that the Blood of Christ can be given on “special occasions.”

At my Parish, only the priest partakes of the Sacred Blood and I don’t feel cheated. Both species contain the totality of Christ.

GCC, thanks for your comments; they give me food for thought.

F

[GCC Catholic]

You're welcome. Thank you for the link to Fr. Trigilio.

Also, I apologize for the pasting weirdness in the next-to-last paragraph. I thought I fixed it in the preview.

[bboop]

Some do this at our church.

[Patriotic1]

As an EMHC, I can tell you it is rare that I get saliva on my fingers. If I’m not helping out, I receive on the tongue. I never have an issue with anyone hitting my tongue or side of my mouth their their fingers. With the blood of Christ, I’ve never gotten sick from it.

[mockingbyrd]

Our Pastor is in the process of introducing communion under both species. We don’t have Extraordinary Ministers of communion, except on Holy Thursday and Midnight Mass. Father found something that, with all due respect, looks like a chips and dip set. Made out of silver. There is a cup for the Precious Blood, fastened in the center and the Hosts lay on the plate. That way, only the priest needs to distribute Communion. The parish was wary of the changes, but I think we are all satisfied by his approach.

[dsc]

“Think of all the sinners who went to Hell for eating less than 24 hours before Communion, unless of course they went to Confession first.”

So, eating before communion was a mortal sin? Or was it a venial sin, taken care of by attendance at the Mass?

That aside, the Church never purported to send anyone to Hell.

[NYer]

Father found something that, with all due respect, looks like a chips and dip set. Made out of silver. There is a cup for the Precious Blood, fastened in the center and the Hosts lay on the plate.

This is known as an intinction set. It is used to distribute communion in the Maronite Catholic Churches.

Only priests, deacons and the bishop may distribute communion in the Maronite Church. I believe this may also be true for the other Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

[Frank Sheed]

It sounds as if it is something that could be used for “intinction.” That is a perfectly reasonable option.

[mockingbyrd]

yeah....that’s exactly how he chose to do it.

[Kolokotronis]

“Only priests, deacons and the bishop may distribute communion in the Maronite Church. I believe this may also be true for the other Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches.”

Right! We frown on Eucherettes! :)